The last couple of days in Santo Domingo were spent just winding down and getting ready to go home… It’s been an amazing trip full of amazing people and experiences… But I’m tired and feel like I need a good rest …. and a good detox!!! I spent the greater part of the last two days riding the metro and hanging out in the malls, Sambil, Agora and Galeria 360. Ironically, the cleanest, safest and coolest place in Santo Domingo is the metro and the happiest places are the malls.

I know I whinged a lot, more to the locals than on this blog!… But in the end I’m glad I came and I had a good time. Santo Domingo isn’t Mexico or Cuba or Colombia, but that’s ok. Every place in the world is uniquely different and it’s foolish to travel with high expectations or preconceived ideas on how a place is going to be.  

I managed to talk to a few locals…I guess the main issue affecting people here is a combination of the never-ending heat and low incomes: Doing a boring job and just getting enough money to scrape by but not be able to do anything else and on top of that constantly sweltering in the heat. Apparently Dominicans are NOT closed… They’re very open and happy people, they’re just reserved and feel more comfortable with others approaching them than the other way round. I think it’s the type of place where if you had local friends you would have a vastly different and much better experience. I wonder too if I would have felt differently about Santo Domingo and Dominican people if this had been my first stop on the trip and not the last.

A few photos from the “downtown” area around the metro stations of Pedro Mir and Juan Pablo Duarte and Avenida John F. Kennedy….